Animal food supplement dispenser and feeder

ABSTRACT

An elongated supply hopper having a plurality of longitudinally spaced discharge apertures, individual feeder valves for each of the discharge apertures, and delivery conduits individual to each discharge aperture for delivery of food to individual feed trough means. Discharge valves in each of the delivery conduits cooperate with respective feeder valves and metering valve elements individual to each delivery conduit to define measuring chambers. Feeder valve operating means and discharge valve operating means control feeding of material from the hopper to each measuring chamber and discharge of measured quantities of the material to the feed trough means.

United States Patent 1 Permann ANIMAL FOOD SUPPLEMENT [21] App]. No.:181,075

[52] US. Cl. ..1 19/56 R [51 Int. Cl. ..A0lk 05/00 [58] Field of Search..l l9/56 R, 54

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,213,829 10/1965 Zumbahlen..l19/56 R 2,352,859 7/1944 Palmer ..1 19/54 3,034,688 5/1962 Rudd ..119/56 R X 867,221 9/1907 Croshier ..1 19/56 R 1 Apr. 17, 1973 PrimaryExaminer Hugh R. Chamblee Att0rneyArthur E. Ringsrud [5 7] ABSTRACT Anelongated supply hopper having a plurality of longitudinally spaceddischarge apertures, individual feeder valves for each of the dischargeapertures, and delivery conduits individual to each discharge aper turefor delivery of food to individual feed trough means. Discharge valvesin each of the delivery conduits cooperate with respective feeder valvesand me tering valve elements individual to each delivery conduit todefine measuring chambers. Feeder valve operating means and dischargevalve operating means control feeding of material from the hopper toeach measuring chamber and discharge of measured quantities of thematerial to the feed trough means.

5 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures 1 ANIMAL FOOD SUPPLEMENT DISPENSER ANDFEEDER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the feeding of livestock, such ashogs, particularly sows, it has been found highly advantageous to addsupplements of various kinds to the regular animal feed for promotinggrowth or otherwise providing specialized nutriment. Special foodsupplements are quite expensive, and the manual feeding of suchsupplements in particular quantities for each animal in a group thereof,is an involved and laborious task. This is particularly true ininstances where the food supplement requirements of any given'animal aredifferent from those of the other animals of the group.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An important object of this invention is theprovision of a feeder for food supplement, in which the amount ofsupplement fed to a given animal may be accurately and easilycontrolled.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a feeder in which aplurality of animals may be fed a given amount of food supplementsimultaneously, and wherein the amount of supplement for each animal isindividually controlled independently of the others.

To the above ends, I provide a frame structure formed to include agenerally horizontally elongated supply hopper having a bottom portiondefining a plurality of longitudinally spaced discharge. apertures,delivery conduits for the apertures, and a plurality of feed troughsreceiving food supplement each from a different one of the conduits.Feeder valves, metering valves and discharge valves cooperate to definemeasuring chambers for reception of material from the supply hopper. Thefeeder valves open and close the hopper discharge apertures to controlmovement of material to each measuring chamber; the metering valvescontrol the size of each measuring chamber; and the discharge valves areoperable to control discharge of material from each measuring chambertoits respective feed trough. Each conduit, beyond its respectivedischarge value, is divided into a pair of conduit sec tions eachleading to a different individual feeder trough; and each conduit isprovided with a diverter valve for controlling flow of food material tothe conduit sections of its respective conduit. A rotary agitatorextends longitudinally within the supply hopper above the dischargeapertures to prevent bridging of the food material and to aid in feedingmaterial to the measuring chambers; and means for operating theagitator, feeder valves, discharge valves and diverter valves, areconvenient to the operator at one end of the frame struc ture.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a view in end elevation of ananimal food supplement dispenser and feeder produced in accordance withthis invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in elevation of the opposite end of the dispenser andfeeder of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view in side elevation, as seen from the left to the rightwith'respect to FIG. 1, some parts being broken away and some partsbeing shown in section;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A frame construction isshown as comprising, a pair of longitudinally spaced vertical end walls1 and 2, upper side wall structure 3, lower side wall structure 4, andbottom wall structure, indicated generally at 5. The upper side wallstructure 3 is formed to provide laterally spaced vertical side wallportions 6 and 7, downwardly converging wall portions 8, and a generallyhorizontal bottom wall portion 9, opposite ends of the wall portions 6-9being rigidly secured to the opposite end walls 1 and 2. The frameconstruction may be of sheet metal, wood, or any suitable material. Theseveral wall structures being secured together by suitable well-knownmeans, not shown. The bottom wall portion 9 is formed to provide aplurality of laterally spaced discharge apertures 10 defined bydepending peripheral flanges 11, see particularly FIGS. 4, 5 and 7.

The lower side wall structure 4 comprises a pair of laterally spacedelongated panels bent to provide upper panel portions 12 that convergedownwardly from the bottom wall portion 9, and downwardly divergingpanel portions 13, the upper panel portions 12 being formed to provideangular flanges 14 that are rigidly secured to the downwardly convergingwall portions 8 adjacent the bottom wall portion 9 by nut-equippedscrews or the like 15. As shown, the lower edges of the panel portions13 are formed to provide longitudinal beads or reinforcing portions 16.

The bottom wall structure 5 is formed to provide a pair of elongatedinner walls 17 joined together at their upper edges to provide an apexportion 18, the walls 17 diverging downwardly in inwardly spacedparallel relation to adjacent ones of the lower panel portions 13.Further, the bottom wall structure 5 includes a pair of horizontal wallportions 19 that project laterally outwardly from respective ones of thewalls 17, and which are formed to provide upstanding side wall portions20 having reinforcing beads or portions 21 at their upper edges. Withreference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 5, it will be seen that each bead orreinforcing portion 21 is' disposed in laterally outwardly and slightlydownwardly spaced parallel relation to a respective one of the beads orreinforcing portions 16.

Rigidly mounted between the panel portions of the lower side wallstructure 4 and the bottom wall structure 5 is a plurality oflongitudinally spaced transverse partitions 22 of inverted generallyY-shape, these partitions 22 being rigidly secured to the panel portions12 and 13, the inner walls 17, horizontal wall portions 19 and side wallportions 20. The upper portions of the partitions 22 cooperate with theend walls 1 and 2 and the upper panel portions 12 to define a pluralityof Iongitudinally spaced conduits 23 each extending downwardly from thebottom wall 9 and communicating at its upper end with a different one ofthe discharge apertures 10. The partitions 22 also cooperate with thelower end portions of the end walls 1 and 2, and with the lower panelportions 13 and inner walls 17 to define a plurality of pairs ofdischarge conduit sections 24 and 25 that extend downwardly fromrespective discharge conduits 23 to laterally spaced individual feedtroughs 26 and 27 respectively. The feed troughs 26 and 27 are definedby the lower end portions of the end walls 1 and 2, the lower endportions of the partitions 22, the horizontal wall portions 19 and theside walls 20, each trough 26 and 27 having an open top portion betweenthe reinforcing edges or beads 16 and 21.

The end walls 1 and 2, vertical wall portions 6 and 7, downwardlyconverging wall portions 8 and bottom wall portion 9 cooperate to definean .open topped supply hopper 28 for holding a supply of animal foodsupplement, preferably in granular form. The food supplement material,not shown, is fed by gravity downwardly through the several dischargeapertures to their respective discharge conduits 23. For the purpose ofaiding in the feeding of the food supplement material into and throughthe discharge apertures 10, I provide an agitator 29 comprising anagitator shaft 30 journaled in bearings 31 in the end walls 1 and 2 andintermediate bearings 32 mounted in transverse partition elements 33,one of which is shown in FIG. 4. The agitator 29 further includes aplurality of axially spaced mounting collars or the like 34 rigidlymounted on the agitator shaft 30, and from which project radial agitatorpegs or fingers 35. Rotation is imparted to the agitator 29 to aid infeeding the food supplement material downwardly through the severaldischarge apertures 10 by means of a crank 36 mounted on one end of theagitator shaft 30 exterior of and adjacent the end wall 1, seeparticularly FIGS. 1 and 4.

Disposed within each discharge conduit 23 are one each of a plurality offeeder valves 37, metering valve elements 38, discharge valves 39 anddiverter valves 40. The feeder valves 37 are each in the form ofa flathorizontally disposed plate-like member, each feeder valve 37 beingdisposed in underlying sliding engagement with the peripheral flange 11of a respective discharge aperture 10. Each feeder valve 37 has abifurcated outer end 41 which projects laterally outwardly through aslot-like opening 42 and is rigidly secured to an elongated rigidconnector bar 43 by means of nut-equipped screws or the like 44. Eachjustably'mounted in or carried by a slotted catch element 54 to limitmovement of the lever 50 in a feeder valve opening direction.

Each metering valve element 38 includes a horizontally disposedplate-like portion 55 that projects outwardly through the adjacentopening 42, and a downturned vertically disposed lip 56 extendingtransversely of its respective discharge conduit 23, parallel to theupper panel portions 12. Each measuring valve element 38 is supportedfor sliding movement toward and away from the opposite panel portions 12by supporting plates or the like 57 secured at their opposite sides toadjacent ones of the supporting strips 45. Outwardly of the dischargeconduits 23, each measuring valve element is provided with a laterallyoutwardly projecting tail portion 58 having therein an elongated slot 59through which extends a nut-equipped anchoring or clamping screw 60 thatextends through one of a plurality oflongitudinally spaced openings in arigid bar 61 I that extends longitudinally of the frame structure and isprovided at its outer ends with down-turned flanges 62 that are securedto mounting bars 63 anchored to and projecting laterally outwardly fromthe end walls 1 and 2. The flanges 62 are secured to the mounting bars63 by nut-equipped screws or the like 64.

feeder valve 37 is supported at its opposite side edges by supportingstrips 45, see particularly FIG. 7. The connector bar 43 extendslongitudinally of the feeder and is connected to a pair oflongitudinally spaced pitman arms 46 that are pivotally connected to theradially outer ends ofa pair of crank arms 47 the inner ends of whichare fixed on a crankshaft 48 journaled in bearing brackets 49 rigidlysecured to the end walls 1 and 2. A manually operated lever 50 extendsradially outwardly from a mounting collar 51 that is rigidly secured toone end of the crankshaft 48 adjacent the end wall 1, for impartingrocking movements to the crankshaft 48 whereby to open and close thefeeder valves 37. An elongated flexible member in the nature of a linkchain 52 is connected at one end to the lever 50, by means of ananchoring clip 53. The chain 52 is adapted to be ad- Each dischargevalve 39 is in the nature of a fiat plate-like member and underlies arespective one of the feeder valves 37 and metering valve elements 38,each discharge valve 39 being rigidly secured at one end to a shaft 65that extends longitudinally with respect to the hopper 28 andtransversely through each discharge conduit 23 adjacent one of the upperpanel portions 12. The shaft 65 is journaled at its opposite endportions in bearings 66 mounted on the end walls 1 and 2, and adjacentthe end wall 1, the shaft 65 is provided with a discharge valve lever 67by means of which rocking movements may be imparted to the shaft 65 tomove the several discharge valves 39 between valve closed positions, asshown by full lines in FIG. 5, and valve open positions as shown bydotted lines in FIG. 5. Ad jacent the end wall 2, the shaft 65 isprovided with a crank arm 68 to the radially outer end of which issecured one end of a coil compression spring 69 that is connected at itsopposite end to the adjacent mounting bar 63, see particularly FIG. 2,the spring 69 yieldingly urging the crank arm 68 in a direction to movethe discharge valves 39 toward their valve closed positions inunderlying engagement with the vertical lips or walls 56 of theirrespective metering valve elements 38.

With reference particularly to FIGS. 4-6, it will be seen that eachfeeder valve 37 cooperates with its respective metering valve element38, discharge valve 39, and adjacent wall portions of its respectiveconduit 23 to define a measuring chamber 70. Each measuring chamber 70is adjustable as to size by movement of its respective metering valveelement 38 transversely with respect to the mounting bar 61. With thisarrangement, each feeding trough 26 and 27 may be supplied with anaccurately measured amount of food supplement from the supply hopper 28at each feeding interval. With the various metering valve elements 38set as required, food supplement is fed to each measuring chamber 70 bymanipulating the lever 50 to open all of the feeder valves 37.Preferably, the valves 37 are opened to the extent that the free edgesthereof are disposed in a common vertical plane with the lip or wall 56of the valve element 38 that is moved furthest to the right with respectto FIG. 5, or which is positioned to provide the largest measuringchamber 70. The extent of opening movement of the feeder valves 37 isdetermined by the length of chain 52 between the clip 53 and the catchelement .54. When the feeder valves 37 are opened, rotation of theagitator 29 will cause the material in the hopper 28 to flow into andtill all of the measuring chambers 70, after which the feeder valves 37are closed, and the lever 67 is manipulated to move the discharge valves39 to their open positions to permit the food material to flowdownwardly through the discharge conduits 23.

Each of the diverter valves 40 is in the nature of a flat plate-likemember that is rigidly secured along one edge to an elongated shaft71that extends through the delivery conduits 23 just above the apexportion 18 of the inner walls 17, the shaft 71 being journaled inbearings 72 on the end wallsl and 2. Adjacent the end wall 1, thediverter valve shaft 71 is provided with a crank 73 by means of whichall of the diverter valves 40 may be positioned to guide materialdischarged from the several measuring chambers 70 to the dischargeconduit sections 24 or, selectively, to the discharge conduit sections25. Thus, with the several metering valves 38 set as desired, and thediverter valves 40 positioned to cause delivery of food material to theselected feed troughs 26 or 27, the operator needs only to open thefeeder valves 37, rotate the agitator 29 for several revolutions, closethe feeder valves 37 and open the discharge valves 39 momentarily topermit food materialto be dumped from themeasuring chambers 70, afterwhich the operator releases the discharge valve operating lever 67 topermit the spring 69 to re-close the discharge valves 39. I

Although not shown, it will be appreciated that each of the feed troughs26 and each of the opposite feed troughs 27 will be disposed todifferent ones of a plurality of animal pens, so'that each animalcontained in a given pen will receive a given predetermined amount ofthe food supplement dispensed by the above-described feeder, at eachfeeding thereof. In the event that some animal pens are unoccupied andit is desired that feeding of food supplement to the unoccupied pens bediscontinued, it is only necessary to disconnect the respective feedervalves 37 from the connector bar 43 by removing their respective screws44 and manually closing those feeder valves 37.

As shown in FIGS. 1-3, the top of the supply hopper 28 is normallyclosed by a cover. element 74 that is hinged to the vertical wallportion 6, as indicated at 75.

While I have shown and described a commercial embodiment of my animalfeed supplement dispenser and feeder, it will be understood that thesame is capable of modification without departure from the spirit andscope of the invention, as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An animal food supplement feeder comprising:

a. frame structure including an elongated supply hopper having a bottomportion defining a plurality of longitudinally spaced dischargeapertures;

b. means defining a plurality of delivery conduits one for each of saiddischarge apertures;

c. feed trough means each disposed for reception of food supplement froma different one of said delivery conduits;

. a plurality of feeder valves each mounted in a different one of saiddelivery conduits for movements toward and away from closingrelationship with an adjacent one of said discharge apertures, saidfeeder valves comprising generally horizontally disposed flat plate-likevalve elements each normally underlying a different one of saiddischarge openings and mounted for generally horizontal slidingmovements toward and away from underlying closing relationship with arespective one of said discharge openings;

e. a discharge valve in each of said delivery conduits in spacedrelation to a respective one of said feeder valves, each discharge valvebeing disposed in underlying spaced relation to a respective one of saidplate-like valve elements;

f. a plurality of metering valve elements each disposed between adifferent one of said feeder valves and its underlying valve and eachbeing adjustable independently of the others thereof;

g. each delivery conduit cooperating with its respective feeder anddischarge valves and metering valve element to define a respectivemeasuring chamber;

h. feeder valve operating means for opening said feeder valvessimultaneously to admit flow of food supplement from said hopper to eachof said measuring chambers to fill said chambers, and for closing saidfeeder valves, said feeder valve operating means comprising;

1. a connector rigidly secured to all of said platelike elements,

2. a rock shaft extending longitudinally of said hopper,

3. a pair of crank members on said rock shaft connected tolongitudinally spaced portions of said connector, and

4. a lever on said rock shaft for imparting feeder valve operatingrocking movement to said rock shaft;

i. and means for opening said discharge valves simultaneously todischarge the food from all of said measuring chambers to theirrespective feed trough means.

2. The feeder defined in claim 1, characterized by means for varying thelimit of movement of said feeder valves in a direction away from closingrelationship with their respective discharge openings and including anelongated member connected at one end to said lever and a catch elementon said frame structure, said elongated member having longitudinallyspaced portions'selectively engageable with said catch element.

3. The feeder defined in claim 1 in which each of said discharge valvesincludes a fiat plate-like valve member having one end secured to anelongated shaft extending longitudinally of said hopper and jiournalledfor rotation within said delivery conduits, said means for opening saiddischarge valves comprising a discharge valve lever mounted on saidelongated shaft at one end of said frame structure.

4. The feeder defined in claim 3, characterized by yielding means urgingsaid elongated shaft in a delivery conduits for directing material intosaid branch conduit sections selectively, a diverter valve operatingshaft extending through said delivery conduits longitudinally of saidframe structure and journaled for limited rotary movements, each of saiddiverter valves being secured to said valve operating shaft for commonlimited rotary movement therewith, and an operating lever on said valveoperating shaft at one end thereof.

1. An animal food supplement feeder comprising: a. frame structureincluding an elongated supply hopper having a bottom portion defining aplurality of longitudinally spaced discharge apertures; b. meansdefining a plurality of delivery conduits one for each of said dischargeapertures; c. feed trough means each disposed for reception of foodsupplement from a different one of said delivery conduits; d. aplurality of feeder valves each mounted in a different one of saiddelivery conduits for movements toward and away from closingrelationship with an adjacent one of said discharge apertures, saidfeeder valves comprising generally horizontally disposed flat plate-likevalve elements each normally underlying a different one of saiddischarge openings and mounted for generally horizontal slidingmovements toward and away from underlying closing relationship with arespective one of said discharge openings; e. a discharge valve in eachof said delivery conduits in spaced relation to a respective one of saidfeeder valves, each discharge valve being disposed in underlying spacedrelation to a respective one of said plate-like valve elements; f. aplurality of metering valve elements each disposed between a differentone of said feeder valves and its underlying valve and each beingadjustable independently of the others thereof; g. each delivery conduitcooperating with its respective feeder and discharge valves and meteringvalve element to define a respective measuring chamber; h. feeder valveoperating means for opening said feeder valves simultaneously to admitflow of food supplement from said hopper to each of said measuringchambers to fill said chambers, and for closing said feeder valves, saidfeeder valve operating means comprising;
 1. a connector rigidly securedto all of said plate-like elements,
 2. a rock shaft extendinglongitudinally of said hopper,
 3. a pair of crank members on said rockshaft connected to longitudinally spaced portions of said connector, and4. a lever on said rock shaft for imparting feeder valve operatingrocking movement to said rock shaft; i. and means for opening saiddischarge valves simultaneously to discharge the food from all of saidmeasuring chambers to their respective feed trough means.
 2. a rockshaft extending longitudinally of said hopper,
 2. The feeder defined inclaim 1, characterized by means for varying the limit of movement ofsaid feeder valves in a direction away from closing relationship withtheir respective discharge openings and including an elongated memberconnected at one end to said lever and a catch element on said framestructure, said elongated member having longitudinally spaced portionsselectively engageable with said catch element.
 3. The feeder defined inclaim 1 in which each of said discharge valves includes a flatplate-like valve member having one end secured to an elongated shaftextending longitudinally of said hopper and journalled for rotationwithin said delivery conduits, said means for opening said dischargevalves comprising a discharge valve lever mounted on said elongatedshaft at one end of said frame structure.
 3. a pair of crank members onsaid rock shaft connected to longitudinally spaced portions of saidconnector, and
 4. a lever on said rock shaft for imparting feeder valveoperating rocking movement to said rock shaft; i. and means for openingsaid discharge valves simultaneously to discharge the food from all ofsaid measuring chambers to their respective feed trough means.
 4. Thefeeder defined in claim 3, characterized by yielding means urging saidelongated shaft in a direction of rotation to move said valve memberstoward valve closed positions, said discharge valve lever beingoperative to rotate said elongated shaft in a discharge valve openingdirection against bias of said yielding means.
 5. The feeder defined inclaim 1 in which each of said feed trough means comprises a pair ofspaced apart individual feed troughs, said delivery conduits eachincluding a pair of branch conduit sections, each of said branch conduitsections leading to a different one of said individual feed troughs,diverter valves in said delivery conduits for directing material intosaid branch conduit sections selectively, a diverter valve operatingshaft extending through said delivery conduits longitudinally of saidframe structure and journaled for limited rotary movements, each of saiddiverter valves being secured to said valve operating shaft for commonlimited rotary movement therewith, and an operating lever on said valveoperating shaft at one end thereof.